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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the
Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn
from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy
of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee
responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with
regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No DE-FC01 -94EW54069/R
between the National Academy of Sciences and The U.S. Department of Energy.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this pub-
lication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-06646-8
Additional copies of this report are available from National Academy Press,
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, D.C. 20055; (800)
624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet:
http://www.nap.edu
COVER IMAGE: Mercury contamination in soil at the Y-12 plant at the Oak
Ridge Reservation. The mercury is visible as small droplets in the dark layer
near the center of the photograph. SOURCE: Oak Ridge Reservation.
Printed in the United States of America
Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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National Acaclemy of Sciences
National Acaclemy of Engineering
Institute of Meclicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating soci-
ety of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, ded-
icated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the gen-
eral welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in
1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal govern-
ment on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the
National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the char-
ter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstand-
ing engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its
members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for
advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also
sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages
education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers.
Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of
Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in
the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The
Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences
by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon
its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr.
Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of
Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal
government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the
Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in pro-
viding services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering
communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the
Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman
and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
-

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Preface
·~. ~
The development of this report has provided an opportunity for
committee members to examine and obtain an overview of a major
national environmental issue subsurface contamination in the DOE
complex. The committee faced a daunting task in making recommenda-
tions to the Environmental Management Science Program about future
research emphases to address DOE's subsurface contamination prob-
lems. To do this, we needed to obtain an overview of the problems and
a detailed understanding of the major clean-up issues. In addition, we
needed to understand how the Environmental Management Science
Program had developed so far, whether it related well to the problems
as we understood them, and its relationship to environmental remed
tion research done elsewhere. Finally, we were to complete this task in
approximately one year with a limited number of site visits.
Clearly, we could never have accomplished this task without the
complete cooperation of the DOE and National Laboratory staff. We
owe major thanks to a large number of persons (see Appendix B) who
prepared presentations and organized visits that informed our process.
A great deal of effort was spent to support us, and I would like to thank
all of these people for their frankness and insights. I would especially
like to recognize the efforts of Mark Gilbertson and Roland Hirsch from
DOE headquarters; Roy Gephart, John Zacara, and Karl Fecht from
Hanford; Tom Wil liams from the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory; and Tom Hicks and Tom Temples from
Savannah River for their support of the committee.
I have served on a number of excellent National Research Council
committees, but I found the support provided by committee staff on this
study was beyond any level of service I have ever experienced. Study
director Kevin Crowley made this difficult task possible. Without his
understanding, sense of group dynamics, and very significant level of
effort there would have been no possibility of finishing this report. We
were also provided excellent research and logistical support by the staff
of the Board on Radioactive Waste Management and Water Science
,a-
P r e f a c e
ix

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and Technology Board, most notably Steve Parker, Patricia Jones, and
Susan Mockler.
We were greatly privileged to have Jim Mitchell serve as the com-
mittee's vice-chair. Jim was the conscience of the committee and played
a critical role in keeping us on course throughout our deliberations. His
careful analysis, insight, and review provided quality to our product. It
was a great treat to work with km.
Normal committee dynamics are such that a few people do a dis-
proportionate share of the work. This committee was an exception to
that rule; the members all contributed and all did the assignments we
gave them. The committee was unusually productive and creative, and
its members contributed not only their knowledge and understanding,
but they also listened to others and incorporated this information into a
consensus. I learned a great deal from my committee colleagues, and
my sense is that the entire committee found the process beneficial.
The committee's review left some very clear impressions concerning
the scope of DOE's subsurface contamination problems. As noted in
Chapter 2 of this report, the committee concluded that much of the
contamination that is now in the subsurface at major DOE sites will not
be removed by any active remediation efforts. The huge scale of the
"environmental insult" (to quote committee member Lee Silver) and the
extraction of contamination on the scales required would require a
major decrease in entropy and would simply not be possible. This
means that a major focus of coming to terms with the problem has to
be understanding, predicting, and containing the subsurface contamina-
tion. These issues are paramount in site closure. They have received
insufficient attention from the EMSP in the past and are a major focus
of this report.
Secondly, the committee recognized that the amount of contamina-
tion that is contained in surface and near-surface facilities at DOE sites
is massive compared to that which has already leaked into the subsur-
face. Millions of gallons of waste and millions of curies of radioactivity
are currently in storage at DOE sites and, if this waste is not managed
correctly, it could potentially become a major source of future sub-
surface contamination. Clearly, an important lesson DOE can learn
from its current subsurface contamination problems is to not repeat the
mistakes of the past. It is true that DOE no longer places high-level
nuclear waste in barrels that are dumped into topographic lows (see
Sidebar 2.5), but DOE is placing new land disposal facilities in regions
that have generated massive contaminant plumes in the past (see, for
example, Sidebar 2.9~. During the course of this study, the committee
saw no institutional process to address the question, "How should the
results and impacts of what was done in the past inform the decisions
S U B S U R F A C E S C ~ E N C E

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of the future?" The committee recogn izes that DOE cannot change what
was done in the past. DOE can, however, make better decisions in the
future. The committee believes that a very important role for research
sponsored by the Environmental Management Science Program is to
provide the information DOE will need to make technically sound and
responsible waste management decisions in the future.
Jane C. S. Long, Cha
Air

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List of Report Reviewers
·eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen
for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance
with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The
purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical
comments that will assist the institution in making the published report
as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional
standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study
charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential
to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the
following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Susan Brantley, Pennsylvania State U niversity
Helen Dawson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Joh n Fou ntai n, State U n iversity of New York
Robert Huggett, Michigan State University
Philip Palmer, DuPont (retired)
Frank Schwartz, Ohio State University
John Taylor, Electric Power Research Institute (retired)
Peter Wierenga, University of Arizona
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many construc-
tive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the
conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the
report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by
George Hornberger, appointed by the Commission on Geosciences,
Environment, and Resources, and Paul Barton, appointed by the Report
Review Committee, who were responsible for making certain that an
independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance
with NRC procedures and that all review comments were carefully con-
sidered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely
with the authoring committee and the NRC.
i s t 0 f R e p 0 r t
R e v i e w e r s
xlli

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